Brad-awl



BRAD AWL.

Patented Jan. 9, 1883.

ma@ ji UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. STICKNEY, OF IPORTSMOUTH, NEWv HAMPSHIRE.

BRAD-Awi..`

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 270,258, dated January 9, 1883.

Application tiled August 18, 1882.

To all whom it mayconce-rn:

Be it known 'that I, JOHN H. STICKNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ports- 1nouth, in the county of Rockingham and State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and Improved Brad-Awlwith SpiralTwist, of which the following is a specification.

The nature of my invention consists in a bradawl provided with either a right or left hand spiral twist between its shoulder and its entering point or'end.

Brad-awls which are made of round or nearly round bars are found to press the fiber of wood or other substances pierced to one side, and consequently the article is'very often split,

and if not split the fact that the fiber of the wood has been very greatly compacted by being pressed to one side renders great care necfor should a pin or nail which is a little too large be used, such pin or nail by further displacing the ber would cause the article to split in many instances.

Myimproved construction of brad-awl avoids the objections above mentioned, and possesses, l think, greater strength, and is superior in many respects to brad-awls heretofore devised. In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved brad-awl constructed with a right-hand twist and with a handle. Fig. 2' is a transverse section in the line w a: of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, the spiral twist being left-handed and the handle shaped differently; and Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the awl provided with a A handle of different form from either of the others.

Ain the accompanying drawings represents a flat-sided bar of steel provided with a tapering shank, a, shoulder b, spiral twist o, and a double-beveled entering end d. This bar of steel, after being well tempered and sharpened at the corners fand end d, constitutes one form of. my improved awl with spiral twist. A is a similar bar of steel to that designated by A, with the spiral twistwc made left-handed.

In constructing my awl any other suitable metal than steel may be used.

The handles B shown in the drawings may be of any suitable or known construction.

' The advantages of my improved brad-awl (No model.)

may be stated as follows: First, the sharp con nersfof the twist c remove the ber of wood or other substance pierced; second, a larger pin or nail than the aperture formed by the awl can with greater safety be driven into the article pierced; third, a hole or aperture can be made nearer the edge or end of the article heilig pierced ,than with other awls without danger of splitting the wood; fourth, smoother holes can be made with it than with other awls; fifth, holes can be made in hard substances which an ordinary awl will not penetrate without danger of splitting the article or breaking the awl; and, sixth, as it often occurs that a hole is required to be a little larger than a round awl will make it, this necessity will be supplied by my invention, for after a hole is made with my awl it can be cut or filed either larger, round, or any desired shapea result which cannot be attained with the round awl.

In the drawings the awl is shown with a tapered shank, so as to t any common handle; but it is my intention to have the shank made of a form suited for the different kinds of handles in use, also for lathe-chucks and bit-stocks; but in any case the awl will have a shank, a spiral twistforniing sharp corners, asf, and a proper-shaped entering end, as d; and the shank will be best it' formed with either a shoulder, b, cr equivalent' enlargement or swell, which will answer the purpose of said shoulder; but it might be made without such shoulder and be ,fastened in asocket in any suitable manner.

l am aware thatboring-tools which are not designed to enter wood or other material by any other than a rotary motion have been provided with either spiral grooves or straight grooves, and with edges which cut away the material, and points which are adapted to enter by a rotary motion of the tools. Such tools are shownin Letters Patent Nos. 103,461 and 151,450; but I am not aware that a tool similar to my bradawl, formed of a pr-ismatic bar with a beveled driving-point, a spiral twisted portion forming sharp cutting edges, and a shank for receiving a handle or entering a forcing holder, has ever before been devised. My brad-awl is driven or forced into the wood by a straight movement, and its spirally-twisted IOO driving-point, a twisted portion above said ro sharp corners eut away the wood, which is usnpoint, and. a. shank above the twlsted. portion,

ally impacted solidly by awls of ordinary construction, and which are driven or forced inwhich adapts Ait to be tted to a forcing hanstead of being turned into the wood. dle or holder, substantially as and for the pur- What I claim as my invention, and desire to pose set; forth. secure by Letters Patent, is JOHN HENRY STICKNEY.

The improved brad-awl herein described, as vWitnesses: a new article of manufacture, consisting of a CALVIN PAGE, prismatic bar of metal provided with a bevel MERCER GUODRICH. 

